Welcome Back to Gravity Falls
by Char543
Summary: It's been ten years since the twins had their legendary summer in Gravity Falls and saved the world. Now, Dipper has to go back, and unravel a mystery to save the ones he loves.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Before we get started here, I just want say a quick word about the setting of this fic; It takes place sometime after the events of the show. Since as of right now, the show doesn't have an ending, this story functions off of a very generalized idea of one, where Bill is defeated, and sealed in his realm, and no one that is going to be brought up died. So, uh, yeah, hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

He panted, his eyes darting side to side, his hands outstretched in front of him, the strange hunk of metal aimed ahead.  
"Where is she?!" He shouted, his face contorted in anger. All that returned to him was laughter.

* * *

"Dippeeer," The bright faced girl whined, as she shook her twin bother. "Come on wake up."  
"Mabel..." He rolled over, brushing her hand off of him, "let me sleep..."  
"But today is the most awesomest day!" She cried, shaking him more. He let out a groan. She was almost twenty two years old, but she certainly didn't act it. "Fine, Mabel..." He rolled over again, "just give me a couple of minutes, okay?"  
"Uh-huh," she nodded, unknown to him, and bounced off to her next destination. He brought a hand up to his head, and rubbed his temples. He sighed. He had to get up, he didn't really have much choice. She'd be back to make sure that he did. Slowly, he sat up, the blankets sliding down his body, the cold immediately hitting his shirtless upper body. "Ughh..." He shivered, and quickly stood up, searching for a shirt. Finally he found one, and slipped it on.

* * *

"Mabel!" Dipper called, glancing around the lobby of the hotel where they were staying.  
"Dipper!" She called back, and ran over to him, throwing her arms around him. "Yes... Hey... We just er saw each–"  
"Isn't this so exciting, Dipper? Going back to Gravity Falls?"  
"Yeah, yeah." He nearly shrugged.  
"Oh, come on sleepy head, aren't you excited?"  
"Y-yeah, Mabel... Just tired, you know?" He rubbed his temple. She pouted, and grabbed her brother's hand, and gave it a slight pull, "let's get moving, Dipper."  
"W-we don't need to rush Mabel, we have–" It didn't matter what he said, she had already pulled him out of the lobby and onto the sidewalk. "This is going to be amazing!" Mabel proclaimed, her arms spread wide, "I can't wait to see everyone again... You know what we should do?" She looked at him, her eyes wide. "What, Mabel?" He sighed. "We should go and have pancakes someplace out like when we were younger," she said, as she started to pull him in the direction of a small diner.

* * *

"Ahh-mmn" Mabel grinned as she swallowed, and shoveled more pancakes into her mouth. Meanwhile, Dipper twirled his fork atop his pancakes, as he had been doing since he got them. "You going to eat that?" Mabel asked, her mouth full, and eyes bright. "Uh... no... You can have it..." He and pushed his plate toward her. She quickly slid the pancakes off of it, and onto her own plate. "So what's the matter, Dip?" She asked, her mouth temporary empty. "Nothing, it's just... I don't know, it feels weird being back here... And I can't help but feel like something's a bit... Off. "  
"Pssh" Mabel waved at him jokingly, "you're so paranoid, silly." Her joking wave turned into a playful punch. He smiled at her, "yeah, its just... I don't know." He shrugged. "You're soo weird..." She giggled, and then resumed eating her pancakes. Dipper sighed, leaned back in his seat, and looked up at the ceiling. After a long silence, Mabel finally spoke up, "Dipper, we should probably go and check out of the hotel, and get on our way. If we get going now, we can make it to Gravity Falls in time to go and have lunch at Greasy's."  
"Yeah, that'd be nice," he leaned forward, and smiled at her. "I wonder who we'll see, like, who will even recognize us," Mabel pondered. "Yeah... It really has been awhile... You ready?" He asked. She responded with a nod.

* * *

"Hey, what's going on over there?" Mabel asked as they walked back to the hotel. She pointed to a couple of people, all dressed rather plainly, standing on the sidewalk, a stopped car pulled up next to them. "I don't know..." Dipper shrugged. As they got closer, the people turned to look at the twins. "Dipper..." Mabel pulled on his shirt sleeve, "I think they're–" She was cut short as one of the people began to speak.  
"Dipper and Mabel Pines."  
"Uhh... Yes, who are–" they didn't let him finish his question. One shoved him away, off of the sidewalk and onto the grass. He could only look on as another grabbed Mabel, and practically threw her into the now open rear seat of the car, and got in. He heard her scream for him, but by the time he was standing again, the car was gone, leaving just one of the people behind. Dipper charged him, but was quickly thrown to the ground again. "Listen, kid, nothing personal, oh wait. It's all personal." He smiled, and delivered a swift kick to Dipper's head, knocking him out.

* * *

"Ugh..." His ears were ringing, and when he tried to open his eyes, he was blinded. He quickly closed his eyes, and began to sit up. He was in a bed, he knew that. After a few moments, he began to open his eyes again. Slowly, light filled his vision. He looked around. He was back in his hotel room. He was about to dismiss the day as an awful nightmare when he saw a message scrawled on the wall in red. _**Hey hey kiddo looks like you won't be having as good time now that you're going to be looking for your sister. I'll give you a hint though, don't change your travel plans**_

* * *

 **Dvoxlnv yzxp gl Tizergb Uzooh**

* * *

 **AN: hey there, thanks for reading, and, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I know it's not much right now, but it's only the prologue. If you enjoyed it, please follow, fav, or leave a review. If you have any suggestions for me, please leave a review telling me them, even if it's only to correct my grammar. Thanks again.**


	2. Chapter 2

His stomach groaned. He hadn't eaten all day, but he didn't want to have to stop and waste time. He sighed and shook his head. He had to eat, if he didn't go and eat, he wouldn't be able to function well for long. "You know where Greasy's Diner is?" He asked his cab driver. The driver grunted an affirmative. "Could you head there?" Another grunt. Dipper leaned back, trying to calm his racing heart.

After waking up, he had scrambled to pack a backpack with what he needed, anything that could help him find Mabel. He knew the police in Gravity Falls wouldn't help, they could barely even help themselves.  
After packing his backpack, he had payed for a week's stay at the hotel, so that he wouldn't have to worry about most of Mabel's belongings.

"The hell...?" The cab driver muttered. "Huh? What is..." He trailed off as he looked out the window. There was Greasy's Diner. And around it, three police cruisers, lights shining red and blue, and a news van. As soon as the cab pulled to a stop, Dipper paid the driver, and got out, barely even muttering a bye. There were a couple of officers milling about, along with a reporter and cameraman. He decided they'd be easier to talk to than the police. "Uh, excuse me," he called, walking up to the reporter, "what's going on here?"  
"Murder." Was the curt answer that he received from the cameraman. "W-what...? W-who?" He asked. Then, his heart sank. What if it's Mabel? His eyes widened.  
"Lazy Susan, poor woman... Sounds pretty gruesome, from what I heard from the cops. Burning grease..." The man sighed, and shook his head. Dipper gulped. "Plus the killer left some sort of note, supposedly, written in blood, addressed to someone named kid or something. Least, that's what I overheard." Dipper stared blankly at the cameraman for a moment before saying, "uh, wow, thanks... I'm gonna go see what I can learn for myself..." He quickly walked away from the cameraman who seemed to know a bit more than he should, and towards the police line. It had to be related, it just had to. He looked over at the cruisers and just now noticed that only one of them was from Gravity Falls. The others must of been called in to help out, nothing like this had really happened in Gravity Falls and the incompetent police force would need a lot of help, he reasoned. "Hey!" He called, trying to signal to the nearest officer that he wanted to talk. After a moment, someone began to walk over to him. It was definitely someone from out of town. "What is it?" The man said as he walked over to Dipper. He gulped. He had hoped that someone from the Gravity Falls police department would talk to him, they'd be a lot more easy to convince. "H-hi, I'm ... I'm an amateur reporter, and..." He gulped again,"and I have a report saying that some sort of message was left at the scene... What did it say?" He raised an eyebrow.  
"It, uh, look, you're a bit young for all this stuff, aren't you?" Dipper sighed, and shook his head, "no, I'm not, now, please, what did it say?" The policeman sighed, and shook his head, "there'll be a press–"  
"Now, please, it could be vital to, uh... public safety," Dipper nearly winced at his inability to think of the right words. "Yeah, okay..." He sighed, "look we're no letting people in, and I don't have it committed to memory. Please, we'll be releasing a photo of the message at the press conference at 5:00 tonight." Dipper thanked the man, and began to walk away from the diner, basically giving up on the prospect of learning what that message was, when he saw the cameraman and the reporter talking to someone, while looking over something on a piece of paper. Dipper crossed his fingers, as he walked over to them. The cameraman noticed him, and introduced him to the reporter, and the officer that was showing them a piece of paper. "Supposedly it's the message, transcribed to look how it looks in there and all," the cameraman said. Dipper stared at the piece of paper for a few minutes before starting to fumble around, trying to get out a piece, "do you mind if I write this down?"  
"Not at all, go ahead."  
"Thanks..." Dipper took off his backpack, fished a notebook and pencil out, and wrote down the whole message, trying to make it look as close as he could to the transcription.

* * *

 **Hey, hey, kid. Looks like you were a bit later than I was hoping. Hope you get this though, you'll be screwed without it. So, welcome back. Hope you're having a good time.**  
 **Ymnqx'e vgef ruzq 12**  
 **I'll be seeing you soon, kid.**  
 **But I'll leave you with this,**  
 **Its so lonely here**  
 **Xfqk dlwp mpfg cheyp xhlbo cfkl pyid xfq pyfqeyp, vhpy mqsy i bikel yqcid kfoldp.**

* * *

Dipper sat on a bench just a little way down the road from Greasy's Diner. He had his notebook resting on his legs and his pen in his mouth, as he stared at the message left for him. He had the first one done, the 12 at the end was more than helpful. It was likely only to prevent the police from trying to tie the name Mabel with someone. It was a major relief for him to hear that she was fine, though he wondered if her kidnappers could really be trusted.  
The other one had him stumped for the moment. It had nothing to do with the other, trying to use that to help crack this one resulted in nothing but gibberish. Then something occurred to him, what if something within the message was the key to this one. He grinned. _Itsolneyhr_ he scrawled and started to scribble down letters.

He still couldn't make sense of it. He had deciphered it, but what did it mean by rodent? He sighed. Where was his next stop? _Mabel and I were supposed to go and meet up with Soos..._ Dipper's heart stopped as he leapt up from the bench.  
"Oh god! Soos!"

* * *

Dzh gszg gll tivzhb uli blf?

* * *

 **AN: Hey again, thanks for reading chapter 2, hope you enjoyed it. And, if you did, please, fav and follow. If you have any suggestions for me, want to praise me, or want to tell me what you don't like, please leave a review, I'll try and improve as best I can. Also, sorry the messages at the end haven't meant much, there's not much that I can think up for them in terms of plot points/hints right now. Thanks again.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Soos!" Dipper yelled as he banged on the door, tears starting to well up in his eyes, "please open–"  
"Aw, hey man, sorry it took me a while to get to the door. Hey, wh–"  
"Oh thank god, Soos..." Dipper wrapped his arms around him in a hug.  
"Woah, buddy it's good to see you too..." Soos, a bit surprised, said as he hugged his friend back. After a moment, they let go of each other. "H-here, come on in..." Soos said, taking a step back, welcoming Dipper inside. "I've got something very important to tell you..." Dipper said, walking through the doorway, and past Soos. "Sure, little dude... Though I guess you're not too little any more, uh?" He chuckled, "please, sit down, Dipper, dude." Dipper sighed, and sat down in a chair in the living room. "So, uh, where's Mabel?" Soos asked as he sat down, across from Dipper. "That's... That's what I have to tell you... I don't know... She was..." Dipper gulped, "she was taken... Kidnapped... We were... We're..." Dipper bit his quivering lip, and brought his fists up to his eyes, as he began to sob. Soos stood, and walked over to h, and put his arm around him. "It'll be okay, man." He shook him slightly trying to comfort him. "No it won't, Soos... If only I was stronger... Or... or..." He sobbed, "and whoever took Mabel killed Lazy Susan just to send a message to me..." Soos sat in silence for a few moments before standing up and walking over to a table. "This, uh showed up for you today... Not sure why, since, you know, you don't live her, but it might be rated, so, uh, here you go." He handed the letter to Dipper, who quickly took it, and tore it open.

* * *

 **Hey, hey, sorry for all the puzzles at the diner, couldn't let the police trying to tie anyone to anything, other than that cameraman, of course. Anyway, I hope you're having a good time. Oh wait, no I don't.**  
 **Okay, now to the point; if you want to save your sister, you going to have to do something for me. What is it, I'm sure you ask? Well, you'll find out if you spend a bit of time with the textile girl.**

* * *

He stared at the letter. Then, he closed his eyes, and his hands started to form fists, crumpling the paper in the process. "God dammit..." He gulped.  
"Hey, look, I'm sure you'll find her, and if you need any help, just come and find me, okay?" Soos asked, putting his arm around Dipper again. "Yeah, okay, Soos," Dipper couldn't help but smile, "sorry for cutting this short–"  
"Hey, it's no problem, you need to do this, man." Dipper and Soos stood. Soos hugged Dipper one more time before he set out to find the next clue to help him get one step close to Mabel.

* * *

 _The textile girl... Who could that be...?_ Dipper sighed, and stretched out on the park bench where he now sat. _Maybe it's one of Mabel's friends..._ He shook his head, both Candy and Grenda moved away from Gravity Falls.  
He ran his hands down his face and let a groan. _Textile... Cloth... Plaid... Cor–_  
His thoughts we cut short as someone began to speak to him. "Hey, man, think you could move over a bit, you're, like, taking up most of the bench." To was a woman's voice, vaguely familiar to him. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure..." He shuffled over slightly. He thought about the voice for a moment, so familiar, yet no longer as filled with teenage immaturity as the last time he heard it. He looked over to the source of the voice as she sat down. The woman even looked familiar, with her long red hair, and green plaid shirt, and he almost found himself blushing. _The hell..._ His eyes widened. "W-Wendy?"  
The woman looked at him, an eyebrow raised, "uhh...?"  
 _Ten years. Its been ten years, why the hell should she remember me..._ He gulped, and rubbed at the back of his head. "I-it's... Uh..." He forced a smile, "the l-last time we saw each other was ten years ago..."  
"D-Dipper?!" Her green eyes grew a bit wide, "I-Is that you?" He nodded slightly, and she threw her arms around him in a hug, much to his embarrassment. "It's so great to see you again," she released him from her hug, what're you doing back in Gravity Falls?"  
He bit his lip, "M-Mabel and I were coming back here on vacation..."  
"Where is Mabel? Last time I saw you guys, you'd never be too far apart." His brow furrowed as she asked that. "She... She..." He took a deep breath, while Wendy looked at him with worry, "she's been, uhm... k-kidnapped..." The word hung in the air for a few moments, before Wendy finally spoke up, "w-what? By who?" She was almost angry as she asked her question. "I... I don't know... And they're the same people who killed Lazy Susan..." He was doing his best not to tear up in front of her, and he looked down at the ground.  
"Wow, man..." She paused for a moment, "any way I can help?" Dipper slowly raised his head to look at her. "R-really?" He asked, "I'm sure you've got things planned, and..." The words sounded silly as he said them, and he knew it by the look she shot him. "Dude, if it wasn't for you and Mabel, we wouldn't be here. I sort of owe you and Mabel one."  
 _You don't owe me anything,_ he thought as he nodded, "yeah... Okay, thanks." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.  
 _Bzzzz_. Dipper felt something vibrate in his pocket. It took him a moment to realize it was his phone. He scrambled to take it out, apologizing to Wendy while he did. His good mood plummeted as he saw what the screen said.  
 **New Text Message From: Mabel**

* * *

 **Z mvd uoznv vmprmwovh, li wlvh rg ivzoob?**

* * *

AN: Hey, thanks for reading chapter three, I hope you enjoyed it. And, if you did, please follow and fav. Also, if you have any suggestions for me, want to praise me, or want to tell me what you don't like, please leave a review, I'll try and improve as best I can. As a side note, the cryptogram at the end of this chapter is not the text message Dipper just received. Thanks again.


	4. Chapter 4

"What is it?" Wendy asked a bit worried as she saw the look on Dipper's face. "I-Its a text message..." He gulped, "from Mabel... Or, more likely, her phone..."

"What does it say?" Wendy asked, some confusion showing on her face. He took a deep breath, and read it aloud.

* * *

 **Hey there, Dipshit, hope you're having a good time meeting back up with your first crush. It's rather fun to watch you flounder about with her, but I've grown bored of it. At this point, I'm sure you've figured out that I have Mabel's phone. And now, unless you really are a dipshit, you're thinking about tracking the gps on her phone. Well, the gps chip is no longer in the phone. But it is the location of your next clue. Now, I'm sure you're asking why am I forcing you to do this, when I have something I want you to do. The answer is simple: Its fun to watch you suffer.**

* * *

The two sat in silence for almost a minute before Dipper sighed and stood up. "Any idea where a computer is?" He asked.

"Maybe the library, I'm pretty sure they recently upgraded to computers there... Probably crap, though." Dipper laughed in response, "y-yeah..." He rubbed the back of his head again, and began walking in the direction of where his memory told him the library would be. "Dipper... The library is the other way..."

"Right. Of course it is..." He turned around, and then looked at Wendy, "you should probably lead the way..." She smiled, nodded, and started leading Dipper. "So why a computer?"

"There's a website run by the company, you put in the chip's code and a little bit more, and it gives you the coordinates of its location. We match that up to some maps of the town, and we should have the location of this next clue."

"Ah, cool..." Wendy smiled slightly.

As they walked, Dipper slowly realized that she was still taller than him. He sighed, and almost laughed. _Maybe our age difference isn't such a big deal..._ He shook his head, _no. No. Don't think about that... Just focus on finding Mabel right now..._

* * *

There were definitely computers at the library, they were old, and the internet connection was slow, but they worked as Dipper hoped they would. Now he had the coordinates, the trouble was matching it to a location in Gravity Falls, due to the lack of maps of the town. In the end, he had to consult a map of the county, which didn't gave him a more general location than he would of hoped for. Now, he let out a groan.

"What is it, did you figure out where it is?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah... It's, uh, it should be somewhere on Main Street..."

"That's sort of general..."

"Yeah, I know... It's not easy to pinpoint it's location..."

He sighed as the walked out of the library and headed toward Main Street. "Worst part is that it's just the gps chip attached to the clue, so it's not like we can call her phone, and listen for the ringing," he sighed, this wasn't going to be easy.

Finally, they arrived on Main Street of the town. "Got any ideas, Dipper?" Wendy asked as they walked up the street. "Well..." He chuckled slightly to himself, "he did say he likes to watch me suffer..." He stopped walking, and turned to face the nearest building. "And...? What is it?" Wendy stopped next to him, and turned to look at the same building Dipper was looking at, and her eyes grew wide, "you can't be serious."

"I am..." He took a long breath, "it shouldn't be too bad... I mean it wasn't when I was here last."

"Dude, that was, like ten years ago, a lot has changed since then."

"So? I don't think it could of changed too much," He shrugged and started walking toward the entrance and the bouncer. Wendy let out a sound of irritance, and started walking after him. "Dipper it's not like before... There are _real_ bikers that come here now, they scare me, man, _me_!" She hurriedly whispered in his ear as they got closer and closer to the door. She let out a groan as she realized there was no way around this. "Once in, head for the bathrooms... That's my guess as to where it'd be hidden." Wendy nodded in response, then said, "if you need help, just start yelling, and I'll come running." She smiled, and he nodded.

* * *

 _Toilet, empty... Toilet, empty... Toilet, empty..._ He groaned, and banged his head against the wall. He closed his eyes, as his brow furrowed and he bit his lip. _I'll never find her... I'm such a failure..._ He let out a sob.

"What the hell is this...?" Someone growled behind Dipper. He spun around, his face nose and eyes red, to face the source of the voice. He was big, buff, at least a foot taller than him. He wore a tank top, his muscular tattooed arms showing. Dipper gulped, and tried to take a step back, only to have his backpack hit the wall of the bathroom. He opened his mouth as the man approached him, but no sound came out. "What, were you crying in here, like a little baby?" Dipper's eyes widened as the man started to approach him. "Answer me you little shit! You're a little cry baby, aren't you?"

"W-wend..." He could barely speak, let alone yell her name. "What was that?" The man asked, turning his ear toward Dipper, and cupping his hand to it. Dipper took a deep breath and yelled, calling out to Wendy. Then, he launched himself at the man, hoping he would be caught off guard. He was, but unfortunately for Dipper, the man was much stronger than him. He threw Dipper back, his backpack hitting the wall. He slumped down onto his bottom, and looked up at the man. "Okay, now you've made me mad with your tantrum," the man grinned as as stood over Dipper. Then, a smash sounded throughout the room as the door to the bathroom flew open. "Get away from him you jackass!" The man turned to face the feminine voice. "And, who are you?" The man snorted, "this is the men's room, you shouldn't be in here."

"Neither should you!" She shouted, and ran at him. He readied himself to simply throw her off of him. Unfortunately, he didn't know what was running at him. Before he knew what hit him, Wendy had thrown at the sinks. A second later, his head collided with a sink, and something shattered. She walked over to Dipper, and outstretched a hand to him. "Come on, we've gotta get going dude," She smiled as he took her hand, "we gotta hurry before more of these asses come along." He nodded as he stood. Quickly, and wordlessly, she led him out of the bar, and to a bench a good distance from it.

"So... Did you f–" She interrupted him as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "W-what...?" He mumbled, then hugged her back. After a couple of seconds, they let go of each other. "So, uh..." Dipper rubbede the back of his head, very much embarrassed, "did you find anything?"

"Naw, sorry man, I'm guessing you didn't either?" He shook his head and sighed. "I guess we'll just have to try somewhere else." As he spoke, his phone vibrated. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket. A new text message. From Mabel. He sighed as he began to read the message.

* * *

 **You know, was planning on watching the two of you flounder about searching for the chip, but I think I've changed my mind. That was just too much fun to watch. I certainly was entertained. The chip is at the statue of Statue of Nathaniel Northwest.**

* * *

They stared at the statue, or, more specifically, an envelope taped to the side. Dipper sighed and rubbed his eyes. He took the envelope, tore it open, and took out the piece of paper inside. He unfolded it, and then read it aloud.

* * *

 **Hey, hey, guess what? You found it. Good job. Too bad you needed some help to find it, but whatever. I think it would be a good idea for you to head to the mall. Better hurry, it closes at eight.**

 **Uigjm i vme bd ewctl jm vqkm?**

* * *

"What time is it?" Wendy asked, raising an eyebrow. Dipper shrugged and took out his phone. "It's only four o'clock..."

"Then why should we hurry...?"

"I... I don't know... I think we should start heading there, though... I'll decipher this on the way..." Wendy nodded and started leading the way.

After walking for a few minutes, Wendy spoke up, suggesting, "what if the letter saying eight o'clock wasn't to keep us on time, but a hint of its own?" Dipper stopped for a moment, then nodded in agreement. Quickly, he scribbled in the notebook. Finally, he spoke, "televisions. We got to go to a place that sells televisions. In the mall."

Wendy shrugged, "this is a really odd goose chase whoever it is has us on."

* * *

After a half hour of walking, they arrived at the mall, and to Donny's OK TVs.

The two stuck together as they wandered around in the relatively small store. Then, while near the back of the store, one of the TVs flickered on, though the screen still blank. " **Hey, hey, how's it goin'?** " the voice echoed slightly, " **it's been fun watching** **you two today, seeing what you do, and don't do. But, I have to call an end to it for the moment. We'll pick this all up tomorrow morning, when I'm in the mood again. But I do have a** **special treat for you."** Wendy and Dipper staring at the screen as something, no, someone started to come into focus, a close up of her face. Her face was red from crying and a little bruised. "Dipper..." The girl sobbed, "p-please..."

"Mabel?!" Dipper moved closer to the screen, and outstretched a hand toward it, "Mabel!"

"Dipper... Please help..."

"Mabel who kidnapped you?"

"I... I'm not allowed to say..." She sobbed. Dipper pressed his forehead against the screen, his eyes closed, tears welling up. Wendy put an arm around him.

"Then... Whoever you are... I'm going to kill you!" Dipper nearly shouted. In return, all he got was laughter. It was barely even human, it seemed such an unreal laugh. Then, the TV shut off.

The pair stood there for a little while before Wendy shook Dipper slightly, "hey, come on, man, we should go get ourselves dinner or something, and settle in for the night... There's not much else we can do right now..." After a long silence, Dipper nodded his agreement.

* * *

 **Vg'f shaal ubj qhzo lbh ner.**

* * *

 **AN: Hello there, and thank you for reading chapter four of Welcome Back to Gravity Falls. I hope you enjoyed it. Please favorite and follow if you did. And, if you have any suggestions for me, want to praise me, or want to tell me what you don't like, please leave a review, I'll try and improve as best I can. Now, about the cryptograms at the ends of chapters, the first three chapters are atbash ciphers, but none of them are too relevant the to the plot. The ones in-story are, typically, all different. Also, to be completely honest, I started off having no inclination to add Wendip elements to this, they're just sort of happening... So, I'm stuck at a bit of an impasse as to what to do on that front. If you want to try an sway me one way or another, please attempt to, either in a review, or in a message. Anyway, thanks again, and I hope you keep reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

Wendy raised an eyebrow as she watched Dipper twirl a fork around on his plate. "Dipper, you need to eat," she said. He shrugged. "I'm serious, dude, you already told me you haven't eaten all day, and now, you're not hungry?"  
"It's just that I keep thinking about Mabel, and how I gotta go find her..." He sighed, and his shoulders sagged.  
"You're not going to be able to find her if you can't even function from lack of eating. You're a smart guy," she tapped the birthmark on his forehead, obscured by his hair, "but nothing's going to work up there if you don't have some fuel." Slowly, he nodded, and used his fork to spear a piece of meat. Slowly, he brought it up to his mouth, and removed it from the fork, bringing it into his mouth. He chewed at length, while Wendy looked at him with disbelief. "What are doing?" She asked.  
"Eating," he said rather matter of factly, still chewing.  
Wendy let out a sigh, and took a bite of her food. Dipper finally swallowed, and, just as slightly slowly as the first, brought up another piece a food and put it into his mouth.  
"So, uh, what have you been up to, man?" Wendy asked, hoping to liven up the conversation, or, more accurately, start one.  
"Not much... School and all... Not much for someone like me to..." Dipper shrugged.  
"What do you mean?" She raised an eyebrow.  
"Nothing, just that there's not a lot of work for a budding paranormal investigator, who isn't full of shit." He shrugged again.  
Wendy smiled, "yeah, but I'm sure there is, just it's probably, like, a journey to get to it, or something like that."  
Dipper smiled slightly, "yeah, maybe..." He stopped smiling, "but it's still hard... I'm probably gonna have to pursue becoming a college professor or something, just so I could have a job... So, what have you been up to?"  
"Ah not much, just odd jobs and all... Moved to Portland, which is cool and all."  
"R-really?" Dipper raised an eyebrow, "then how come you're back in Gravity Falls?"  
"Sort of planned on doing what you and Mabel were gonna do, revisit, and meet back up with people," she shrugged, "my dad wanted me in town for some sort of family thing, but this is much more important than that." She smiled at him.  
"Y-yeah... Thanks..." Dipper smiled back, "are you staying with your family?"  
"Naw, I got a motel room. Where are you staying?"  
"Well, the plan was for a motel in town, but... I never went to one, and I'm practically out of money, because I had to pay to keep Mabel's things from being thrown out or whatever..."  
"Hey, then if you don't have anywhere to stay, you can stay with me, my room has two beds in it."  
Dipper's eyes widened, and he nearly blushed, but he nodded his head. "Okay... That'd make it easier to get going in the morning."  
"Plus it'd give us some time to ourselves," she grinned, and his face turned a bit red, "to, you know, think and stuff."

* * *

He had barely eaten, despite his lack of food the rest of the day. At least he actually _did_ eat something. Now, he sat on a bed in the hotel room. The room was sparse, it had two beds, a television, a dresser, a small table, and a door to the attached bathroom. On top of the small table was a microwave and a lamp.  
His backpack was open and next to him. He was scribbling down notes in his notebooks. "Dipper... Come on," Wendy sat down next to him, "you need to settle down, you're not going to be able to sleep if you don't."  
"I know, I know..." He groaned, "it's just that I'm sure there has to be another clue as to where she is... There just has to be." He closed the notebook, and slid it into his backpack. "Shit..." He muttered, and then quickly dug back into his backpack. After a moment he pulled out a laptop, and then, a few seconds later, a video camera. "What is it?" Wendy asked as he dug these out of his backpack.  
"I my backpack hit the wall pretty hard before, I just remembered about it..." He breathed a sigh of relief as the camera turned on. He turned it off, and put it back in the bag. Then he turned on the laptop. After booting, he did a couple of routine checks, then shut it off.  
"How come the camera?" Wendy asked once he put the laptop away, "why not just use your phone for videoing stuff?"  
Dipper blushed slightly, "well... I er... Do some video blogging about supernatural stuff... Like I said, there's not much I could do with what I like..."  
"Hey, that's actually pretty cool, dude," Wendy smiled, and shifted slightly closer to him.  
"R-really? You think?" He asked, and turned to look at her.  
"Yeah, you're pretty cool in general."  
He smiled smiled slightly, "thanks..."  
She shifted slightly closer to him. He gulped. Slowly, her hand drifted up to his knee. He nearly flinched. "You okay?" She asked.  
"Huh... Yeah, of course." He gulped again, and started to lean toward her.  
 _What the hell are you doing? Stop. Stop right here. You can still turn back._  
She met him halfway, their lips meeting. It was a quick kiss, more of a peck. Then another a bit longer. Then another. His hands drifted up to her shoulders as their lips grazed against each other in their kiss.  
Suddenly, he shoved her back, and she let out a cry of surprise. "I-I'm sorry..." He looked down, "I... I can't... N-not with Mabel still out there... I'm sorry..." He looked down.  
"D-Dipper..." She moved back over to him, and put her arms around him, "it's okay... Just... " She kissed the side of his head, "go get changed for bed..."  
"I... I didn't really bring cloths... Just some underwear..." He chuckled softly, "plus, I... I typically don't wear much to bed..."  
She laughed, "whatev, I'm not judging."  
His face grew red, "y-yeah... B-but–"  
"Dipper, just get comfortable," she shoved him a bit playfully, then stood up, "I'm gonna go change."

* * *

He heard the bathroom door open, and he looked over from where he lay on the bed. Wendy walked into the room, wearing a tee shirt and sweatpants. She walked over to the bed where Dipper was, and sat down.  
"I thought–"  
"Its so I know your sleeping," she said, stretched her arm out to the light and turned it off. She blushed slightly as she looked at Dipper, who was, as he said he would be, in his underwear. She sighed, and pulled the covers over the two of them. He almost instantly curled up next to her, and she wrapped her arms around him. "Th-thanks..." He said, as he shuffled a bit, trying to get comfortable. "No problem, man..." She muttered, already beginning to drift off.

* * *

 _3:30 a.m._  
The room was dark, the only sound that of the two sleeping, no sound from the outside being able to find its way in. Then, the crack of a television turning on, the room quickly illuminated in yellow. " **Hey, hey, kiddos!** " A voice yelled into the room from the TV. The two began to stir in the bed. " **Come on, wake up, wake up, it's morning time.** " Slowly, Dipper sat up, his eyes barely open as he looked at the TV.  
" **Guess what, it's time for us to continue. I think it'd be a great idea for you to head to the shack. And, guess what? That's all I'm going to tell you for now."**  
Laughter followed, and then, a click. The television shut off. Dipper groaned, and started to roll out of bed. He stood up, walked over to to the lamp, and turned it on, blinding himself for the second time this morning. Wendy let out a groan as she got up, too. "We..." He yawned, "we better head out... After we change..."  
He nearly tripped over his own feet as he walked to his clothes on the floor.  
 _Maybe talking to Stan and Ford would be a good idea..._

* * *

 **Fbeel, qvqa'g zrna gb jnxr lbh.**

* * *

 **AN: Hey there once again :) I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Please remember to follow and fav if you did. If you have any suggestions for me, want to praise me, or want to tell me what you don't like, please leave a review, I'll try and improve as best I can. Any feedback is certainly helpful. Anyway, thanks for reading chapter five :)**


	6. Chapter 6

"Stan!" Dipper called as he walked into the Mystery Shack, Wendy not far behind at his heels. "Grunkle Stan? You in here?" He paused a moment, then sighed. "He must be out doing a tour of the grounds or something..." He laughed and shook his head.

"How about Ford?" Wendy asked, looking around the "museum" in a bit of nostalgia.

Dipper looked over at her, "who knows... My guess would be in the lab or something... Stan said he hasn't left the shack in years, so I doubt that would've changed."

"Dipper?" The voice came from behind Dipper. He turned to face it.

"Ford!" He took a step toward the man. It looked like he had barely changed in ten years. His clothes were basically the same, his hair was just slightly greyer, his face only a bit more wrinkled.

"It's almost six in the morning...Weren't you going to show up later... And where's Mabel?"

Dipper gulped and closed his eyes, "that's... That's why we're here..." He paused, "Mabel's been k-kidnapped."

Ford stared at Dipper for a long moment before speaking, "any idea who?"

"No..." Dipper shook his head.

"Then... Then I have something for that... I'll be back" He turned and walked back into the back of the shack.

"F-Ford, wait," but it was too late, he was already out of earshot. "Of course..." He sighed and back to Wendy, whose mouth was slightly agape.

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't really grasp what's happening..." Dipper sighed again.

"Hey, don't let it get you caught up."

"Yeah, I know... He was like this when we sent Bill back and sealed the tear back up... But after ten years I thought something would've changed..." He kicked at the floor softly.

"Come on, Dipper, I'll show you how to use it," he was already past the two of them, nearly out of the door.

"F-Ford, wait up," Dipper said, as he started to follow the much older man outside.

"Do you have something of her's on you?"

"N-no, but–"

"Damn. Well if I use something of yours..." He paced back to Dipper, and lightly scrapped something on his arm, "and now with some minor modifications..." He started twisting knobs, and pressing buttons on the apparatus in his hands. Then, once again, he walked away from Dipper, away from the shack.

"Ford! Just stop..." The younger called to the older. His ears failed him, or, more likely, decided not to hear.

"We'll find her, Dipper, we will."

"But Grunkle Ford, you're going outside the shack..."

"I know, I know... Don't you understand, Dipper," he turned to face him, "I've been on to something... I've been looking into it for years. Something is going to happen. Something big! This has to be related to it all." Dipper furrowed his brow and let out a sigh. _He sounds like Old Man McGucket used to..._

Ford kept walking away, beeps and bops coming from the machine in his hands.

"What's going to happen?"

"The beast with one eye... The beast with just one eye..." He muttered over and over and over.

"What are you saying?" Dipper cried out, a bit exasperated with his aged great uncle.

"Don't you understand what this means, Dipper?!" He turned to face the shack, his eyes wide with both excitement and fear.

A bright yellow flash of light from behind him drowned out any color he had. Then, as the flash of light disappeared, the sound of thunder reverberated through the air. One of Ford's legs gave way, the device dropped from his hands, and he collapsed to the ground, revealing another person behind him.

The man was dressed in a black suit, his tie a bright yellow. His hair was an an unnatural yellow and shaggy, obscuring one of his eyes. He held an arm outstretched, an object in his hand, pointed at where Ford's knee was.

" **Hey there, Pinetree, so good of you doing what I wanted, without me even asking. I guess we just understand each other."** An echoing laugh followed. The strange man snapped his fingers, and in another flash of yellow light, Ford disappeared.

"What did you do to him!?" Dipper began to run toward the man, but Wendy grabbed hold of him, and fell backwards onto the ground with him.

" **I just brought him to where the shooting star is. He'll be fine. Or maybe he won't. Who can tell."** He shrugged as he let his weapon holding hand fall to his side.

"W-why the hell did you shoot him?!" Dipper yelled, struggling a bit against Wendy's hold.

" **So he couldn't get away, of course..."** He sighed, then let out a violent sounding coughing fit. " **I guess I owe some sort of explanation. See, the damned protection field you set up ten years ago is still active. I needed you to get good ole sixer out of the shack for once so I could get him. Now, it's the end of all the hints for you, at least for the while**." Another echoing laugh. " **Whatever, I'll leave you with this; Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!"**

A yellow flash, and the man was gone, leaving behind a final echoing laugh.

"Bastard!" Dipper shouted, still struggling against Wendy's hold on him, "l-let go of me!"

Wendy nearly instantaneously let go of Dipper, who sprung away from her.

"What the hell was that for!" His face was contorted with anger.

"I-I..." Her brow furrowed, "I was keeping you from getting yourself killed!" She began to stand.

"I could of stopped him!"

She shook her head, "he had a gun, he would of shot you!"

"He could of shot me anyways, but he didn't. He wants to keep me alive."

"Dying and getting shot are two different thing!" Dipper could barely bother to listen to her, he was already walking over to the device Ford had dropped. When he picked it up, he walked back to the shack, going by Wendy.

"I'm going to figure this out. Hopefully I can come up with something..." He shook his head as he walked through the entrance to the Mystery Shack.

She stared blankly at the doorway as he walked away from her.

* * *

 **Vf fbzrguvat gur znggre jvgu gur unccl pbhcyr?**

* * *

 **AN: Hello, and thank you for reading chapter six, I hoped you liked it. I know I've said it five times before, but, please remember to fav and/or follow if you did. And, as always, please leave a review if you have any suggestions for me, want to praise me, or want to tell me what you don't like. I'll improve as best as I can. Anyway, thanks again.**


	7. Chapter 7

It was dark, she knew that. It was cold, she knew that, too. Her hands slid along the ground. It was cool to the touch, and smooth. It had to be stone or metal.

She shivered , and retracted here hand, bringing it back into her body, and then brought her arms inside her sweater. She rolled around, shifting, trying to get comfortable, but to no avail. She slowly brought her knees nearer to her, as she began to sob.

It seemed like she had been laying there forever when she heard the door to the room began to creek open.

* * *

"Dipper, come on..." Wendy pleaded as she followed him back into the shack.

"Just leave me alone, okay?" He kept walking, "I really just want to be left alone right now..."

"D-Dipper, just listen to me..." He kept pleading. She felt tears start to brim in her eyes, not from remorse at doing anything wrong, she had only protected him from getting himself hurt. It was from the way he was acting. "Y-You're acting completely insane...!" She blurted out. Dipper quickly turned to look at her.

"Insane?" His anger easily showed up on his face, "insane?! I'm trying to save my sister, and now, because of you, I have to go and save Ford, too."

"Didn't you hear him, that was his plan all along!"

"I-I still could of done something...!" Dipper's voice cracked, and he gulped, "Just... Just let me be alone for a bit, okay? I need some time to go through stuff..." He looked down.

"O-okay, yeah... I'll, uh..."

"Just come back in an hour or two... I'll still be here..."

She somewhat reluctantly nodded her head.

* * *

/How is Bill still around? He should've never of been able to get back to our world.../ Dipper groaned as he started to flip through Ford's notes. /He knew, somehow he figured it out, but how...? If I can figure that out, I just might be able to come up with a way to defeat him./ He shook his head. /No. Not might, be able to, I have to come up with a way, no matter what./

He nearly jumped when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

* * *

The red haired twenty-five year old kicked at the ground. How could he act that way toward her, she wondered. She let out a groan, coupled by a kick at the ground, then she closed her eyes. He was just confused, that's all... Confused and worried, she reasoned. She sighed and opened her eyes. Hopefully he'd finish up soon... Maybe he'll be acting close to normal, then.

* * *

His hands trembled as he poured over the pages of Ford's journal. The message was total confirmation of two things. One, it was likely Bill. His tormentor hadn't lied to him yet, so why should he start now.

Two, Mabel was okay. Her captor had sent him a video, in addition to a confirmation of his identity. It was simple. It showed her, on the floor, looking around, in the same clothes he had last seen her in, dirt covering her. She sobbed for a bit, then something was said off camera. She had looked up at the camera, and then said amidst her sobs,something that made Dipper's hair stand on end.

"Dipper... H-he'll kill you... P-please don't l-look for me... He'll kill you..."

He stopped looking over the notes. He had found it. It was brilliantly simple. He had found it, a weakness.

* * *

He ran out of the shack, quickly finding Wendy sitting on the ground.

"I found his weakness." He said as she turned to look at him. He looked at her, her furrowed brow, almost immediately realizing how he had acted toward her not all that long ago. "I'm sorry..." He said.

"Don't worry about it..." She said as she stood up, and began to walk toward him, "what is it?" Her voice was just slightly hoarse.

"He exists just as a physical form," he said, a bit excitedly.

"So...?"

"So, if that was no more, he'd die."

Her eyes widened, "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Killing him. Simple." He could hardly believe he had just said that.

"How?" She asked again.

"W-well... I just have to find him..." He rubbed the back of his head.

"Dipper, this isn't much of a plan..."

"Wait, I just have to use the device Ford had to locate him, and then I'll just go in there, and..." He didn't want to have to say the last word.

She stared at him for a long moment, before speaking, "You saw what he's capable of, he'll just teleport you away from him, and probably kill you in the process."

"He won't. His plans are too big to just simply kill me."

"Right..." She paused and sighed, "then I'm coming with you, I can't let you do this on your own."

"No... I want you to stay here. I don't want you getting hurt. This is the one place Bill can't touch."

"Dipper, I want to come with you... I can't just let you go off into danger alone."

"You can, and you will..." He said, turning away and walking back into the shack, leaving her speechless. He quickly returned, with Ford's locator device tucked under his arm, in addition to a satchel slung over his shoulder.

"Just give me your number, I'll call you in a little bit to check up on you..."

"W-where are you going?" She asked.

"To Stan... I'm sure he'll have something that'll help..."

* * *

Lbh xabj, fghqvrf fubj gung xrrcvat n ynqqre va gur ubhfr vf zber qnatrebhf guna n ybnqrq tha. Gung'f jul V bja gra thaf, va pnfr fbzrbar znavnp gevrf gb farnx va jvgu n ynqqre.

* * *

Hello there, and thank you for reading chapter seven. I must apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out, I've just been dealing with a little bit of writer's block. I also don't really like how this chapter came out, which is one of the reasons it took so long... I might go back and rewrite it later...Anyway, please follow/fav if you've enjoyed this so far. And, please, leave a review, whether it's to praise me, give me a suggestion, or whatever other reason you have. I'll do my best to improve, if you do have suggestions, or things you disliked. Any who, thanks again for reading.


	8. Chapter 8

She wasn't about to let Dipper go out on his own, and get him get killed. No, she was going to follow him, one of the many skills that her father had taught her. He'd never know, until she had to swoop in and save him.

She shook her head as she tailed him. It was too easy, he wasn't looking out of someone following him, making it all so much easier...

* * *

He knocked slowly, calmly on the wooden door to the apartment. After a long pause, it opened, revealing an aging man in an old worn tank top, and boxers. Dipper smiled as he saw the potbellied man.

"Dipper!" The man almost smiled as he saw him, "weren't we going to meet up at the shack later today... And wasn't Mabel going to come–" He stopped himself as he saw Dipper's expression fall. "Come in... Come in..." He stepped aside, and motioned Dipper inside.

It was a simple, one room apartment, and very messy. There were all the essentials, save for bathroom amenities, spaced out throughout.

"So, what happened?" The older man asked.

"Mabel..." He paused, nearly exhausted at the number of times he has had to say this, "She was kidnapped..."

Stan's face turned serious, "by who?"

Dipper gulped. Now came the more incredulous part. "B-Bill... He's back... And..." And here came the part even harder for him to say then the last, "and he also has Ford..."

Stan stared at him for a long time, silent, his face slowly showing deeper rooted pain than he had in a long while. Finally, he spoke, his voice seemingly being weighed down by sudden tiredness, "I already lost him twice before...Now this son of a bitch has done it... He's lost to me twice over!" He threw his hands up in desperation.

"W-what are you talking about, Stan?"

"Ever since you and Mabel supposedly sealed Bill away, he's been beyond distant, lost in his work, believing..." He sat down in his recliner, and ran his hands down his face, "and now, he took him away, ruining any hope I had of him starting to act normal again..." He paused for a moment, before he began to get up, "I'm sorry, Dipper," his face flashed with pain as he started to right himself, "where are they?"

"I don't know... I'm here..." He swallowed, "I'm here to ask for your help..."

"I'm coming with you," Stan said without hesitation.

"No, no... I don't you to come along... I came here more so to ask you for something."

"What is it?" The older man raised an eyebrow.

"Years ago you said that you had, er," he rubbed the back of his head, "you said you owned some guns..."

Stan's eyes went wide, "you came to ask me for a gun?"

"Uh..." Dipper rubbed the back of his head, "y-yeah, I did... I just–"

Stan put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea, I can't help feeling like this won't end well."

"Yeah, but what other choice do we have? If everything Ford theorized is true, I shouldn't have anything to worry about."

Stan sighed, and let his hand drop. "I'm not so sure..." Once again, he walked over to the chair and sat.

"He won't be able to stop me... I'll take him down once and for all."

* * *

She watched as he walked out of the building, a noticeable shift in his demeanor. His eyes seemed to dart about, looking for an unnoticeable entity. He took a few steps away from the building before kneeling down and placing his backpack I front of him. He removed an object from it, before zipping it back up, and replacing it onto his back.

 _It must be whatever device Ford had,_ she reasoned as he began to rush off, his hands quickly maneuvering over it. His excitement was visible even from across the street where Wendy sat unnoticed. Slowly she stood, and started to tail him again, making sure he wouldn't notice him, especially now that he looked as though he was keeping a better eye out than before.

* * *

 _An abandoned warehouse. How stereotypical._ Dipper shook his head as he approached the building. He knelt, putting his backpack on the ground. Slowly he put the tracking device into the pack, and carefully pulled the gun Stan had given him. It was a revolver, that much he knew. Other than that, he was practically clueless about it. He held it in his hands for aRe few seconds before standing back up, and slung his pack back over his shoulder.

* * *

The door was unlocked, and he swung it open. Cautiously, he took a step into the warehouse. Immediately, he felt something was off, and a few steps later he realized exactly what it was. The whole place was just one large empty room. It had taken him a moment to take it all in, but even the darkest corners were empty. He could feel his heart wanting to leap out of his chest as he ran into the middle of the warehouse.

He panted, his eyes darting side to side, his hands outstretched in front of him, the strange hunk of metal being pointed in all sorts of directions.

"Where is she?!" He shouted, his face contorted in anger. All that returned to him was laughter. Slowly he felt something start to overcome him, seemingly covering him in darkness, all while the laughter resounded throughout the large room.

* * *

 **Urer jr ner, onpx ng gur ortvavat.**

* * *

 **AN: Hello there, and thank you for reading chapter eight. I know it was on the shorter side, but the next chapter will be a big one, at least story wise. So, if you did enjoy it, please follow and fav. And, please leave a review, it's a great way for me to see if I'm doing well, and what I need to change. Anyway, thanks again.**


	9. Chapter 9

Blackness and more blackness, a never ending world of darkness engulfed him, wrapping him up in emptiness. He tried to breathe, but his body failed him, his lungs feeling already full. He brought his arm up, trying to bring it into his vision, but it never showed it self. He began to swing what he felt was his arm around, hoping for it to touch something, but it never did. He began to swing his legs, kicking, hoping for them to collide with something, but there was nothing for them to hit. Then he began to fall, or, more accurately, feel as though he was falling. Faster, faster, the infinite nothingness whizzed past him, until he collided into stone with a thud. His eyes shot open.

Nothing hurt, but his joints were stiff as he began to push himself up, his arms capable of being seen once again. Now, he sat in darkness, confined to the finiteness of his small cell.

He sat, and laid about his confined holding, waiting, almost hoping that Bill had something more planned than just letting him to waste away.

Finally, after an unknown length of time, he heard the the creeping of a door opening.

"Get up, don't try anything or people you love will die. "

Slowly, wordlessly, Dipper rose up, and looked at the silhouette that stood in the doorway.

"Follow."

The figure turned and walked away. Dipper followed it, slowly, his steps full of caution. After a few steps out, he realized he was back in a warehouse. He looked behind him and saw what amounted to three small sheds in a row, one of which he just walked out of. As he looked back to the overly thin figure that he followed, he noticed the rest of the warehouse was empty, save for two plastic chairs, one across from the other. The figure motioned to the chair that faced away from the door. "Sit over there." The man sat down in the other chair. Dipper walked slowly to the chair he was told to sit in, and sat in it.

"Hello there, Pinetree."the voice sounded unnaturally tired. Dipper looked at the man, truly looked at him, before responding. The man was pale, unhealthily so. His hair was of medium length, shaggy, and dark brown, with golden highlight, unlike the pure yellow it was the just a few hours earlier. It also blocked the view of his left eye. His irises, assuming his left eye was like his right, were just like his highlights in terms of hue, a golden yellow. The area around his eyes was dark, which, coupled with his pale complexion, gave him a sickly appearance. He wore a suit, of a dark yellow, with a brown trench coat over it.

"B-Bill...?" Dipper raised an eyebrow, his eyes a bit wide.

The man cracked a smile, "checkmate."

"Never thought you'd be the one for a chess reference," Dipper said as cool as he could, despite his heart hammering in his chest.

"Things change, kid-o,"

"Like you being a triangle?"

"Like you being able to save your sister."

Dipper closed his eyes momentarily as he fought to keep himself restrained. "Like your dumb hat," he muttered through gritted teeth.

"You mean this one?" Bill made a gesture, and, a small top hat appeared, floating just above his head. After a moment, his face flashed with pain, and the hat disappeared.

"Something wrong?" Dipper asked, a smile slowly growing in hope.

"So," Bill began, ignoring him, "before we begin, is there anything your little mind wants to know?"

"Just three things. One, why the hell was this place empty when I came in here before?"

"Simple, I just made it so you couldn't see anything, I'm a demon, Pinetree, I can do anything I want."

"I don't think so..." He grinned slightly, "I think it hurts you, even to do something as simple as make your damned hat appear."

"That's not a question!" Bill nearly shouted as Dipper, "you have one more chance to ask me your other questions, otherwise, everything will only be worse!"

"F-fine..." Dipper shrunk back slightly, "two, where's Mabel?"

He motioned behind him, to one of the sheds, "in one of them, of course."

"Three, what are you going to do to us?"

Bill sighed, "that's your last question, really?" He laughed, "you're all going to die!"

* * *

Wendy sat, her gaze fixed upon the door of the warehouse, her jaw clenched tight. It has been almost an hour since Dipper had gone in there, and she was worried. Slowly, she took a long, deep breath, and began to fiddle with her boot. After a moment, she drew from its sheathe a military grade knife. Just like she thought, she would have to go, swoop in, and save him.

She rose up from her position, and started toward the building.

* * *

A loud bang resounded throughout the warehouse as foot collided with wood, sending the door clattering open. Bill's expression fell as he looked up to see a redhead charging at him and Dipper. Quickly, he stood, drawing a pistol from inside his coat. Dipper sprang up, tackling him to the ground, pushing the gun away. A flash, and he was gone, quickly reappearing a few feet away, his hair a tinge darker than before. Almost instantly, he doubled over in a coughing fit, blood spurting out of his mouth, onto his hand and the ground. Dipper stood back up, and looked over at Wendy, who was now standing motionless next to him, her mouth slightly agape.

"Pinetree!" Bill shouted, his voice hoarse, blood trailing from his mouth and nose, his lone visible eye wide as he stared up at the two of them. Another flash, and he disappeared, reappearing a few feet away from them, only to collapse to the ground in a fit of coughing.

"W-what's going on, Dipper?" Wendy asked, her brow furrowed.

"He's weak... I don't think his human body can take it..." He walked over to where Bill lay coughing. Slowly, he knelt, and picked up his gun, and stood back up. He pointed it at Bill, forced his eyes closed as tight as he could, and depressed the trigger.

A flash, and a bang. Bill was gone, a bullet hole and a small crimson puddle of blood being all that remained of him in the warehouse.

* * *

"Mabel...?" He asked nearly chocking up on his words. The figure laying on the ground stirred. Slowly, it's face turned to look at him. "D-Dipper...?" Her mouth hung open, her brow furrowed. He bit his lip slightly as she launched herself upwards as best as she could, and grabbed onto him in a hug. He quickly lost his balance and fell backwards. He slowly put his arms around her. "Awkward sibling hug?" He mumbled weakly into her hair. His only response was his sister's head shaking amidst her sobs.

* * *

It had now been a few days, and now Dipper smiled a false smile, "so, this is goodbye..." Wendy returned a smile of similar truthfulness. "Yeah... I mean, we could..." She paused then shook her head, "I'm sorry..."

Dipper's brow furrowed, "don't be. If anyone should be, it should be me."

She shook her hear in response, then moved close to him, and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Slowly, he responded in kind, putting his arms around the redhead. Then, something buzzed, followed by an 8 bit style tune. They pulled away from each other, and Dipper pulled out his phone. He stared at the musical device for a few moments in a bit of confusion before accepting the call and pressing the phone to his ear. Before he could even utter 'hello,' an all to familiar voice spoke to him.

"I hope you don't think we're done," the voice stopped speaking for a moment while wheezing could be heard. "Because we're not... I'm coming for you, Pinetree." **Click.**

Dipper's phone dropped down to his side, his mouth left agape. Wendy hesitated for a moment, then reached out, and took his hands in hers.

"He's still out there... After me..." Dipper said, almost needlessly. Wendy sighed in mutual weariness, "looks like I'm staying a bit longer." She flashed a grin at him. His eyes widen slightly, but before he could say anything Wendy spoke again, "to... protect you... You kind of need it."

He nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **Lbh'er tbvat gb cnl Cvargerr**.

* * *

 **AN: Hello there, and a big thank you for reading this, chapter nine of Welcome Back to Gravity Falls. I am rather happy with this chapter, and I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please follow and fav. And, please leave a review, it's a great way for me to see if I'm doing well, and what I need to change. Anyway, thanks again, and I'll do my best to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.**


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